How realistic features affect the stability of an Arctic marine food web model.

Rapid sea-ice decline and warmer waters are threatening the stability of Arctic ecosystems and potentially forcing their restructuring. Mathematical models that support observational evidence are becoming increasingly important. We develop a food web model for the Southern Beaufort Sea based on species with high ecological significance.

Combining generalized modeling and specific modeling in the analysis of ecological networks.

The complexity of real food webs involves uncertainty in data and in underlying ecological processes, and modeling approaches deal with these challenges differently. Generalized modeling provides a linear stability analysis without narrow specification of all processes, and conventional dynamical systems models approximate functional forms to discuss trajectories in phase space. This study compares results and ecological interpretations from both methods in four-species ecological networks at steady state.

Stability of generalized ecological-network models.

The stability of ecological networks of varying topologies and predator-prey relationships is explored by applying the concept of generalized modeling. The effects of omnivory, complexity, enrichment, number of top predators, and predatory response are discussed. The degree of omnivory plays a large role in governing web stability at steady state.